Research funding schemes and programmes

The funding of the Portuguese research system is mainly conducted under the authority of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education[2], namely through its Foundation for Science and Technology or Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT).

FCT is funding research via a non-thematic research programme which funds all research areas through competitive calls for proposals. The total funding budget for FCT is about €472 per year, with about €0,5-1 M being spent on marine biotechnology. FCT has signed with ANR (France) a collaboration protocol, with emphasis on Oceanology cooperation. However, this protocol has not been implemented yet.[3]

Other Research Funding Programmes which have a significant Marine Research element include:

ON2 - North Portugal Regional Operational Programme 2007/2013 with two strategic priorities with special relevance to S&T: “Competitiveness, Innovation and Knowledge” and “Economic Valorisation of Specific Resources” with a specific objective related with Economic development of new uses for the sea and a significant investment in marine S&T infrastructures managed by a political management body [5]

Private funding mechanisms

Business forum of the economy of the sea [6] developed a document called ‘Hypercluster of the Economy of the Sea’[7]

In 2012, Portugal maintains about 25 large marine research equipments registered in the European large Exchangeable instruments database [8].

Key aquaculture experimental and research facilities in Portugal include

Experimental Research Facilities CIIMAR Portugal Land based facilities

Specialised Laboratories IPIMAR Portugal

Marine aquaculture station of Ramalhete University of Algarve Portugal

Any other research facilities of relevance to Marine Biotech?

Algarve Centre of Marine Sciences, University of Algarve

Centre of IMAR at Department of Oceanography and Fisheries at the University of the Azores

The Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) is an international centre for biomedical research and graduate education, located in Oeiras, Portugal, founded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (FCG) in 1961. Its campus includes other research institutes in biology, biotechnology and chemistry, with complementary research interests and facilities: protein structure and design, synthesis and theory of chemicals with biological interest, molecular microbiology, plant biotechnology, biotechnology, downstream processing, etc. [9]

Disclaimer

This draft country profile is based on available online information sources and contributions from various country experts and stakeholders. It does not aim nor claim to be complete or final, but should be considered as a dynamic and living information resource that will be elaborated, updated and improved as more information becomes available, including further inputs from experts and stakeholders.